St. Bernards offensive and defensive linemen work on blocking form during practice on Wednesday, at St. Bernards
Andrew Butler – Times-Standard

St. Bernards is in its second week of preseason practice and head coach Matt Tomlin is busy at work molding his young team into regular season form.

St. Bernards varsity football will open its 2018 season in unfamiliar territory as the newcomer to the Big 5 Conference. St. Bernards will contend with Eureka, Del Norte and Fortuna for the Big 5 crown come this fall.

“Going up against bigger schools gives these guys all the motivation they need,” Tomlin said. “They are excited, and we’re going to give everyone our best shot.”

St. Bernards opens its 2018 season at home against El Molino, Saturday August 18 at 2 p.m. and will face its three conference foes consecutively, at the end of the regular season in October. St. Bernards will kick off its conference play at Eureka on October 12 and the week following it will face Fortuna, in Fortuna, before ending its regular season and conference play at home against Del Norte on October 27.

St. Bernards has enjoyed a considerable amount of success against Del Norte in recent history, having won four straight games against Del Norte since 2010.

Although St. Bernards and Eureka are located within one mile of one another, the two have not faced each other in a football game since at least 1979.

St. Bernards has met Fortuna just two times since 2010, both games going as losses for the Crusaders. The most recent meeting occurred last season in the second round of the North Coast Section playoffs. Fortuna trailed St. Bernards early in the game but came back to win 34-33.

“We are a 180 kid school going against the biggest schools in the county,” Tomlin said. “It’s going to be David versus Goliath every week for us in the Big 5.”

St. Bernards, formerly a member of the Little 4 Conference, will leave the conference with a 24-game winning streak against Little 4 opponents, a streak which dates back to 2013.

St. Bernards’ move into the Big 5 comes as the result of a vote by HDNL officials last November to reorganize both the Big 5 and Little 4. St. Bernards was moved into the Big 5 and both Arcata and McKinleyville were placed in the Little 4. The HDNL’s decision came after the California Interscholastic Federation implemented a policy of “competitive equity,” aimed at organizing athletic programs into leagues based not off the size of their school, but according to the quality of their play.

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Tomlin said he understands the rationale behind the move into the Big 5 but said the transition has come “three years too late,” and that his club would have been very competitive in the Big 5 with the teams it fielded over the last three years. St. Bernards accumulated a 37-4 overall record over the last three years including winning a state championship in 2015.

St. Bernards’ 2018 roster is just 25 strong and is missing a lot of familiar faces as the Crusaders’ starting quarterback, running back and top wide receiver from a season ago graduated last spring.

“We have 19 true varsity players and six junior-varsity guys who moved up,” Tomlin said. “Regardless, nothing changes, we’ll continue to practice and play like champions and we’ll be okay on Friday nights.”

St. Bernards’ quarterback last season, T.J Campbell, threw for 4,060 yards and 57 touchdowns in 2017 and also rushed for the second most yards on his team, 620. Also gone from the team is running back and middle linebacker Garrison Roach. Roach had the most rushing yards of any Crusader in 2017 with 659. Roach rushed for 13 touchdowns as well. He was also his teams’ top tackler with 77 solo tackles last season, 29 more than the next closest Crusader.

Tomlin said junior Will Omey will start at quarterback this season. Tomlin praised the young athlete, comparing him to former St. Bernards quarterback Jack Rice, who is currently playing Division I football at Sacramento State.

“Omey is a dynamic player,” Tomlin said. “He’s an explosive athlete who can run as well as he throws.”

Defensively, Tomlin said he expects defensive end Lucindo Gable and outside linebacker Justin Hagler to lead the Crusaders. Hagler, now a junior, started at linebacker for the Crusaders in 2017 and had 43 tackles, fourth most on the team.